Farm Journal Foundation has awarded The Ohio State University student organization Micki Zartman Scarlet and Gray Ag Day Committee with its first ever "HungerU" grant, valued at $2,500. The organization was selected among several student groups participating in the Foundation’s Farmers Feeding the World "HungerU Mobile Tour," a campaign designed to increase awareness about the role advanced agriculture plays in ending hunger, the world’s number one killer.

Sponsored by DuPont, the HungerU Mobile Tour took place in October and November 2012 and included stops at Michigan State University, Kansas State University, University of Illinois, Purdue University, The Ohio State University, University of Missouri and Iowa State University.

To be considered for the grant, student organizations were challenged to build campaign awareness on campus and beyond, leveraging HungerU campaign assets, including its 40-foot trailer emblazoned with powerful images and messaging on hunger, and its social media platforms. The group exhibiting the highest level of engagement, including targeted outreach to campus organizations and influencers, distribution of fliers, attendance of campus events and meetings, posting social media updates and media outreach, would receive the grant.

"We were thrilled when the HungerU team invited us to participate in the campaign, as it gave us a larger platform for addressing ag literacy," said Leslie Risch, adviser for the Micki Zartman Scarlet and Gray Ag Day Committee, whose mission is to educate hundreds of elementary school students annually about the importance of agriculture in the world.

Risch said that the group plans to use the grant to support its next Scarlet Gray and Ag Day event on April 19, 2013. Along with outfitting more than 200 volunteer students with T-shirts and renting tents to house livestock, the money will be used to help connect elementary school teachers with curriculum to teach agriculture. "If we can start conversations with kids now, perhaps some will think about careers in agriculture to become part of the solution."